The Cetra
by Aria-Maea
Summary: One day, a mysterious girl appears in Midgar. She has virtually no memories, but does carry a unique trinket...her mother's white materia.


Hi, I'm Aria! This is my very first 'fic, so if you leave a review, please go easy on me. Pretty please? Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer/claimer:- I don't own Final Fantasy VII, but I do own the character named Aria.

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**Chapter 1-The Truth of Existance**

_Mother! Please don't leave!_

_I must. I promise we will meet again._

_When?_

_I'm not sure, but very soon._

…………

_Please don't be angry._

…_..I'll miss you, mother._

_I'll miss you too……….._

And then I woke up.

I always wake up just before my mother says my name. I have no idea who I really am, but I have been having this same dream as long as I can remember. This place where I am now used to be called a 'slum' in a city named 'Midgar'. Not many people come here anymore, as they are scared of the monsters. My powers protect me, so it is safe for me to live here. Or rather...safe-ish.

I'm not sure why but some people known widely as the 'Turks' have tried to capture me on three occasions, but I always manage to get away.

Those who have seen me or heard rumours about me call me the ghost girl, as I wear black, grey and white and have dark brown hair which looks almost black. Some think I am a sort of living memory of all of the people who died thanks to the wickedness of others before Midgar was deserted. Yeah right.

I arrived on this planet-I have heard it being called 'Gaia' and 'Earth'-approximately two months ago, and I already have a reputation as a very powerful, illusive warrior, although I'm nothing special where I come from. Problem is, that's pretty much all that I can remember. I have virtually no memory.

One of the things I do remember is that my mother told me, if I was ever in trouble, I should try to find a good friend of hers called Cloud Strife and show him my white materia. My white materia is my most precious possession. It used to belong to my mother. I wear it as a necklace, trapped by a silver circle. I don't know why, but it is very comforting to me.

I looked around at all of the scrap metal and ruined buildings. So much wasted and desolate land. I found the path I was looking for-one of my favourite places was nearby.

I jumped from place to place, as walking is close to impossible in all of the rubbish, and soon arrived at a building-one of the few left standing in Midgar.

It had a rusty metal sign outside, swinging from a post. Inscribed was the word 'church'.

I entered and slowly walked past the pews, to a bed of flowers. These were the only flowers I had ever seen in Midgar. I bent down and picked up a yellow flower - it had a very sweet, pleasant smell. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes. The church was so peaceful…

Suddenly I heard something move behind me. I turned around quickly to face a group of 10 Turks and a guy with bright red hair.

"I knew it!" the man with bright red hair exclaimed almost happily "I simply knew it was you! You look almost completely different to her, but your eyes gave it away completely. And the fact that you have her materia."

Stupid bright green eyes, they always give me away as they're so noticeable; once seen never forgotten. I glared at him.

"Leave this place now. If we fight, I can assure you that I will win."

"You really are like your mother…"

"You knew my mother?" I asked, startled.

"But of course."

"…Your name wouldn't happen to be Cloud Strife, would it?"

Red hair seemed to recognise the name, as he shivered slightly.

"We are…acquainted. But my name is Reno."

I paused to think. Mother told me to find Cloud, and this man did know Cloud, so maybe…

"Come with me and I promise that I'll hep you find Cloud." Reno said, holding out his hand. I hesitated then took a step forward.

"NO!!" yelled a voice from the entrance of the church. I looked up, startled, to see a blond man with deep sapphire blue eyes, carrying a gigantic sword. Something in my memory clicked.

"Hey! Cloud Strife, over here!" I took off my white materia pendant and held it out in front of me at arms length.

"Aeris…" he whispered; He was visibly shaken.

"Hey boss, what should we do?" asked one of the Turks.

"Ya, I'm getting confused." said another whilst scratching his head.

"Is it time for lunch yet?" questioned a third, very fat Turk.

"Shut up you bunch of idiots!" said a seething Reno. He grabbed a machine gun off of one of the other Turks and aimed it at me.

"Cloud, if you move the last Ancient gets it!"

I stared at him incredulously. He thought I was defenceless…how rude!

"I can protect myself just fine thanks." I said, slightly annoyed.

My hands started glowing bright red as I began casting one of my favourite spells. I put my hands above my head to create a giant ball of flame and smiled evilly at the Turks.

"You're really asking for it now!"

I brought my hands down, holding the ball of fire at arms length, aiming in the general vicinity of the Turks. Some of them backed away.

My white materia began glowing, and I felt a huge surge of energy go right through me. I let the spell go at the Turks, surrounding them in a colossal ball of flames. my arms fell to my sides and the fire disappeared. Well, most of it.

"Yeowch!" yelped one of the Turks, whose uniform was on fire.

"Aww…poor lil' excuse for a soldier. Want me to put out the big, nasty fire?" I asked mockingly, placing my hands on my hips. I crossed my arms, touching my left shoulder with my right hand and my right shoulder with my left hand, then raised my hands up to roughly head level. To finish the spell, I put my hands at arms length in front of me, bowing my head slightly, to create a ball of pure water energy which I shot at the Turks, washing them right out of the church's entrance.

I turned around to face the bed of flowers, aiming to escape through the back room, which I discovered the first time I came here.

"Wait!"

I looked sharply over my shoulder, recognising the voice as Cloud and realising that I had forgotten all about him. I looked around but couldn't see him.

"Up here."

I looked up to find Cloud standing in the rafters on one of the horizontal beams. He jumped down in front of me, his expression one of amazement.

"I haven't seen many who are that skilled with magic. You must have some pretty powerful materia."

I shook my head. "No, the only materia I have is my mother's white materia."

"But that doesn't make sense…you can only use magic etcetera if you have the relevant materia equipped."

"Now I'm confused." I replied.

"HEY, YOU TWO! GET BACK HERE!" yelled Reno, who had managed to survive both of my assaults. Impressive. Reno wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand where a trickle of blood was running down his face. He grabbed a gun which was lying on the floor and aimed it at me.

"That's it. I've had just about enough of this charade. Now, you're either going to come quietly or I'll drag you along. Which will it be, Cetra?"

I stood my ground, believing he was no match for me.

"…So be it…."

He quickly used an elixir on himself, got out a bullet and shot at me. I hadn't realised and played into his trap like a fool. Before we noticed him, he must've used Haste on himself. He was so fast that I didn't have time to react. The bullet hit me and tore right through, burying itself deep in the side of my stomach. I cried out silently in pain.

_He's hit me with a silent bullet! _I mouthed to Cloud whilst holding my side, trying to stem the bleeding._ I can't cast any spells. Help me, Cloud!_

Cloud's face was completely transformed in his anger. He took his gigantic sword off of his back and charged at Reno. He swung his sword in a large but controlled circle before bringing it down exactly where Reno should have been standing. It would have connected too, if only Reno hadn't moved at the last second. But, although it missed Reno, it got his gun, slicing it in half exactly through the middle.

Reno was much faster, but it was clear who was the more skilled of the two fighters- Cloud had far more talent-I don't think I would be able to even lift his sword. Deciding to help out, I positioned myself carefully behind Reno, who was now focused solely on defeating Cloud. I mouthed the word _Manipulate!_ and a yellow bubble encased Reno for a few seconds. I made him use an echo screen on me.

"That's better!" I said, now smiling "Thanks for that, Reno. Now…let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine…"

I cursed him with as many status inflictions as I could think of. Reno looked shocked for a second or two before being afflicted. He turned into a frog, was poisoned, put to sleep, shrouded in darkness, doomed, beserked…everything I could think of.

I used a simple Aero spell to blow frog-Reno right out of a hole in the roof. I sighed, glad that the Turks were all finally gone. I reached down to the ground to pick up my yellow flower again, completely forgetting my injury. I gasped slightly at the pain.

"Did he hurt you?" asked Cloud, who had been checking for more Turks. He grimaced when he saw the injury and started forward, trying to help. I shook my head, gritting my teeth and holding out a hand. The message was obvious-stop.

I quickly focused my magic into my hand, making it glow green. I placed both hands over the injury and cast a cure spell. The flesh quickly knitted itself back together and some of the pain was alleviated. Not all-I was a bit low on magic-but enough. I stood up straight.

"There, all better. So you can stop worrying now, okay?"

"Quick, men! Reno said if he wasn't back with the Ancient in 15 minutes we should hurry to the church! Move it, NOW!"

I glanced at the doorway. A group of about 20 Turks was outside, about to ram the door.

"How can we get out?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

Cloud grabbed my hand. "This way! There's a shortcut we can reach through the back."

I decided to trust Cloud, and so I followed him. He led me to some stairs which led us to the rafters, which we walked along to reach a large hole in the roof. We moved around to the side of the church, where Cloud jumped down onto a motorbike. He signalled for me to come down as well, so I jumped down just behind him onto the bike and held on around Cloud's waist. We moved quickly away from the church and were at the outskirts of Midgar in mere minutes, where we paused for a bit.

"So…what's going to happen now?" I asked Cloud.

"Honestly? I have no idea. I'm taking you to live with a good friend, who also knew Aeris very well. Her name is Tifa Lockheart. She lives with two kids named Marlene and Denzel. You should be safe there for a while until we figure out our next move."

I nodded then closed my eyes. Today had already been full of surprises. Before long, we had arrived at on of the new cities' centres. Cloud stopped his motorbike and went into a nearby bar called '7th Heaven'. A young lady rushed up to us, looking a bit worried.

"Cloud! Where have you been? You've been missing for nearly six months!"

"Hi, Tifa." Cloud replied, smiling very slightly.

Tifa looked a little shocked. "Something big must've happened for you to be smiling like that. I'm guessing it has something to do with…" she flickered her gaze towards me quickly.

"Before you ask, no, she's not Aeris. She does have the white materia, though. And her eyes…"said Cloud quickly.

"So…where are you from? And what's your name?"

"I…that is, I don't know…"

I suddenly felt exhausted. I realised that I hadn't eaten or drunk anything for at least four days. Up until now, I had been working completely on adrenaline. I swayed dizzily on the spot before falling backwards. As I fell, someone quickly moved behind me, breaking my fall. I was so tired that all I could see through my blurred vision was a face with light brown hair and a worried expression.

"…Thank you…" I murmured before fainting.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I came round I was in a large, airy room, lying on a soft bed. I sat up slowly, trying to remember where I was. I remembered Tifa and Cloud, and the would-be-attackers in the church.

"Tifa! She's awake! Are you okay?" asked a young girl who had just come into the room. She had longish brown air tied up in a ponytail and was wearing a white dress.

"W-who?" I asked.

"Oh! How rude of me. My name is Marlene Wallace. What's your name?"

"I don't actually know. I barely have any memories."

"Hmm…I know! Let's pick a name for you!" said Marlene brightly.

I nodded, smiling. I liked Marlene- her bubbly personality was very infectious.

"Let's see…how about Menou?"

I shook my head. The name was nice, but not quite right.

"Hmm…what about Sakura?"

Didn't really suit me.

"Well, what do you think of the name…"

…**40 MINUTES LATER…**

I sighed. Marlene and I must have gone through hundreds of names.

"Aha! I've just thought of one I haven't tried yet. How about Aria?"

My eyes lit up. "I like it. It sounds a lot like my mother's name. And it just….feels right."

Marlene nodded. "I understand completely, Aria."

Someone knocked at the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, Denzel!" replied Marlene.

A boy about the same age as Marlene and I entered the room. He had light brown hair, which I recognised.

"Hey, you're the person who caught me yesterday when I fell, aren't you?"

"Yup! Glad to help." he said, smiling warmly.

"Tifa and Cloud were really worried when you collapsed like that. Cloud even stayed here overnight to keep an eye on you."

"Is that…strange?"

"Yes, very. Cloud never stays for more than a few hours, and visits are a very rare occasion." replied Denzel.

"So where am I?" I asked curiously.

"In our spare room, in one of the cities built around Midgar after it was destroyed. Our city is called 'Edge'." answered Marlene.

"Oh."

"Cloud and Tifa are downstairs, waiting for you. By the way, what's your name?" asked Denzel.

"She's called Aria." said Marlene from a desk in the corner of the room, where she was plaiting her long hair. She opened a drawer in the desk and got out a pale pink ribbon, which she used to tie up the end of the plait. For some reason, Marlene suddenly looked very familiar to me…almost like…_ my mother_.

"My mother used to have her hair tied up like that." I said abruptly.

"See! You remembered something. Tifa said if we could get you to remember anything, that would be a good start." said Denzel smiling.

"Yeah. I've been remembering a lot of things recently." I said thoughtfully.

_**BANG! BANG!**_

"Someone's at the door." stated Marlene.

"That much is obvious…" Denzel muttered.

_**BANG! BANG!**_

"This is Elena of Shinra! We will force entry if you refuse to open this door! I repeat, we will force entry if you refuse to open this door! We know you have the Ancient! Open up NOW!"


End file.
